Motor-bearing.



F. R. KUNKEL.

MOTOR BEARING.

APPLICAYION FiLED SEPT. I2, 1910.

Patented Dec.

www4.,

VVITNESSES:

U d P FRED R. KUNKEL, 0F SWISSVALE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION 0F PENNSYLVANIA.

MOTOR-BEARING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

patented pee.. as, rara..

Application filed September 12, 1910. Serial No. 581,732.

T 0 all whom t ymay concern.'

Be it known that I. FRED R. KUNKEL, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Swissvale, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Motor-Bearings, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to shaft bearings and it has special reference to guide bearings for high speed electric motors of the vertical type.

The object of my invention is to provide av relatively simple bearing adaptedl for the service outlined above that shall embody means for continuously and adequately lubricating the engaging surfaces of the shaft and the bearing and means for preventing the oil, or other lubricant, from passing downwardly into the motor under very adverse conditions.

YVhen electric motors are utilized for driving vacuum cleaning machines, or similar devices, the end frame of the motor adjacent to the cleaner sometimes forms a part of the pressure chamber' of the device and, consequently, the motor shaft bearing, which is supported therein, is subjected to abnormal air or fluid pressure, tending to force the oil out of the bearing. This is particularly true of vertical shaft cleaning machines in which'the driving motor is located directly below and supports the cleaning parts, since the action of gravity tends to assist the air pressure in forcing the oil downwardly into the motor.

According to my present invention, I provide a motor bearing which is specially constructed in order to adapt it to the service and to overcome the difficulties above indicated.

The single figure of the accompanying drawing is a sectional elevation of a vertical type electric motor provided with a guide bearing constructed in accordance with my invention.

Referring to the drawing. the motor here shown comprises a stationary frame or base 1. a stationary core member 2, a winding 3 therefor, a vertical shaft 4, an armature 5 and bearings 6 and 7. v

The bearing 7 comprises a cup or cup shaped member 8, which is preferably integral with the frame or base 1, and a cylindricalvbearing block 9v having a flange 10 which projects over and is secured to the upper edge of the cup 8. The outside diameter of the body portion of the cylindrical block 9 is considerably smaller than the inside diameter of the cup 8 and is provided with one or more side openings 11. The annular space between the block 9 and the cup 8 is filled by a cylindrical wick 12 that extends below the lower end of the block S) into the bottom of the cup 8, which contains a quantity of' oil, or other liquid lubricant. lVipers 13 are located in the openings 1l between the shaft 4, and the cylindrical wick 12 for the purpose of providing a capillary communication between the two parts.

The end thrust of the shaft is borne by a hardened set screw 14 which is screw-threaded through and extends upwardly into the bottom of thel cup 8, a set nut 15 being provided for preventing accidental adjustment of the set screw. The lower end of the shaft is provided with a screw 1'6 having a hardened steel head which engages the convex end of the set screw 14.

The bearing 6 4comprises a cylindrical housing 17, which is preferably integral with the upper end frame 18 of the motor and is provided with a flange 19 at its lower f end having an upwardly extending annular projection 20', and a cylindrical bearin block 21 which corresponds to the block 9 of the bearing 7. The frame part 18 incloses a space 18)a which constitutes a portion of the pressure chamber.

The cylindrical bloc-k 21 is located between collars or enlargements 22 and 23 with which the shaft 4 is provided and has' a head or cap 24a which projects over andis secured to the upper edge of the housing 11. The* upper end of the bearing block 2L is counterbored to receive the collar or enlargement 22 and is provided with annular grooves 24 and 25, one of' which is located at the lower edge of the collar 22, and the other at substantially the middle portion of the collar. The block 21 is also provided with one orv more side openings 2G which correspond to the side openings 11 of the bearing block f) and are similarly provided with wipers 27.

The flange 19 and its projection 20 form an annular oil well 28 which may be filled from outside the motor frame, throughy an oil pipe 29, the end of the pipe being bent upwardly to such an extent that just the proper quantity of oil may be supplied to the oil well.

-bearing member for the A cylindrical wick 30, which corresponds to the wick 12 of the bearing 7, surrounds the bearing block 2l, in contact with the wipers 27, and extends downwardly into the oil pocket 28. The oil, or other lubricant, which is supplied to the oil well is carried upwardly by capillary action thiough the wiekBO and the wipers 27 to the shaft.

The upper end of the collar 23 and the lower end of the collar 2:2 are respectively provided with circumferential grooves which form oil discharging projections 3l and 32.

The arrangement of parts is such that any oil that is discharged fiom the projection 3l is thrown against the lower end of the wick 30, and, consequently, either flows downwardly into the oil well 28 or is carried upwardly through the wick and the wipers to the shaft. rllie projection 32 extends into the annular grooves 25 of the bearing block, and one or more longitudinal passages 33 provide a communication between the groovey and the passages 26, whereby oil, which works upwardly from the bearing surfaces, and is discharged from the projection 3,2, may fiow downwardly to the wipers 27. A communication is established from the annular groove 24 to the outside atmosphere through a pipe 3l and, consequently, if the pressure in the chamber, of which the space 1Sa at the upper end of the bearing constitutes a part, is materially increased, it will have no effect on the lubrication of the bearing, since the end of the bearing block fits the collar quite closely and the air in the annular groove 24 is maintained at atmospheric pressure by reason of the tube 3l.

The structure or type of the motor illustrated forms no part of my present invention and it is evident that my improved shaft bearing may be employed in entirely different relations, within the spirit and scope of my invention.

I claim as my invention:

l. -A vertical shaft bearing comprising an oil pocket below the surface to be lubricated and disposed concentrically with respect to the shaft, a cylindrical wick surrounding said surface -and projecting downwardl around the shaft into said oil pocket, and a shaft having a wiper to complete capillary communication between the oil pocket and the shaft.

2. A vertical shaft bearing comprising an annular oil pocket below the surface to be lubricated and disposed concentrieally with respect tothe shaft, a cylindrical wick of materially larger diameter than the shaft surrounding the shaft and projecting into the oil pocket, and a bearing member for the shaft'having a wiper to complete capillary communication between the cylindrical Wick and the shaft.

3. A vertical shaft bearing comprising a cylindrical housing having an annular oil pocket at its lower end and a shaft opening within said oil pocket, a cylindrical block surrounding the shaft and having a side opening, a cylindrical wick between the block and the housing and extending downwardly around 'the shaft into the oil pocket and a wiper located in the opening of the block to provide capillary communication between the wick and the shaft.

l. A vertical shaft bearing comprising a cylindrical housing having a centrally disposed bottom shaft opening and an annular oil well surrounding said opening, a cylindrical bearing block surrounding the shaft and disposed within said housing above said oil well and secured to the upper end thereof, said block being provided with a side opening, an oil wiper located in said opening and a cylindrical wick surrounding the bearing block in contact with the wiper and extending downwardly around the shaft into the oil well.

5. The combination with a plurality of chambers having relatively different pressures therein, and a shaft extending into both chambers, of a wall provided with an annular recess located intermediate said chambers and having its inner side closed by said shaft, and means for maintaining atmospheric pressure in said recess to prevent leakage of pressure from one chamber to the other.

(i. The combination with a vertical shaft having fixed spaced enlargements the adjacent ends of which are provided with oildischarging projections of a cylindrical bearing block surrounding the shaft between said enlargements and having a portion surrounding part of the upper enlargement, said portion heilig provided with an annular groove for the upper projectioma housing disposed around the body portion of said block having an oil pocket surrounding said shaft, and a wick extending into the oil pocket and interposed between said block and said housing.

7. The combination with a pressure chamber and a shaft extending into the chamber, of a shaft bearing located in the wall of the chamber and coniprising a hearing block having an annular groove adjacent to the shaft and located near the outer end of said block and means for maintaining atmospheric pressure in said groove.

8. The combination with a pressure chamber and a shaft extending into the chamber, of a shaft bearing located in the wall of the chamber and comprising a bearing block having an annular groove adjacent to the shaft and located near the outer end of said block and an open air pipe projecting from the annular groove to the outside of the chamber.

9. A vertical shaft bearing embodying an annular oil Well concentrically disposed around the shaft and below the surface to be lubricated, a bearing member located above said oil Well, and :i cylindrical wick surrounding said bearing member and'projecting into the oil well.

10. A vertical shaft bearing embodying a cylindrical blocks surrounding the shaft, a cylindrical supporting housing disposed around the body portion of said block and spaced therefrom to form an annular chamber, the lower portion of said housing being provided below said bloek with a concentrieally related shaft opening and an annular oil well, and a cylindrical Wick disposed in said annular chamber and projecting into said oil Well.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my naine this 8th day of Sept., 1910.

FRED R. KUNKEL. 7itnesses L. A. MAGRAW, B. B. HINES. 

